


Nerves

by TheRoarOfAtlas



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Smut, Mostly Fluff, because we all needed overly blushy Reigns in our lives, huge dudes being nervous around their crush trope, thirst party saturday, unnamed ofc - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-08-15 20:56:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8072473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRoarOfAtlas/pseuds/TheRoarOfAtlas
Summary: A little change of pace for Thirst Party Saturday, but hopefully enjoyable all the same!
[x-posted to Tumblr, as always]





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [toxicpop](https://archiveofourown.org/users/toxicpop/gifts).



> Toxicpop and I are terrible people who spend most of our days musing about huge buff dudes being super awkward and shy around their crushes.

He knew he shouldn't be this affected by her. But he couldn't seem to keep himself steady when she was around.

 

Roman took a deep breath, staring at his reflection in the mirror. _You're okay. You're a huge, totally cool dude. You've definitely got this, and you're definitely not going to make a fool out of yourself._ He cringed at his admittedly-shitty pep talk, straightening his shirt and picking up the bouquet. It was already a little crushed-looking from his nervous fidgeting, and he hoped she wouldn't notice.

 

_Just ask her out man, what the fuck._ He berated himself, stepping out of the locker room and looking both ways. She would be just about done with her workout now, probably chatting with one of the other women. Roman swallowed hard. _I can do this, I'm okay_.

 

His limited courage went out the window when he saw she was alone. Just setting down her weights, taking a drink of water. Roman felt his throat go dry and he was suddenly aware of the fact that he probably looked like a _total_ weirdo, lurking in the doorway.

 

Oh shit, she had noticed him. Well, not like that was a difficult feat, he was kind of enormous even when he was _trying_ to be invisible. She waved him over, and Roman was powerless to resist. His sneakers squeaked embarrassingly loud on the workout mat and he mumbled an apology for interrupting.

 

"It's okay, I was just about done. What's up? You look like you've got something on your mind." She asked, sitting down on the weight bench and loosening the laces on her sneakers.

 

_This was such a bad idea, oh my god._

 

"I uh. I."

 

She squinted up at him. "You okay, Roman?"

 

_HELP_.

 

Roman panicked, grabbing her hand and carefully placing the bouquet in her grasp. He then turned and fled, fucking _ran_ out the door. Down the hall, back to the men's locker room.

 

" _Shit!_ " he swore, knocking his forehead into his locker. "Stupid, dumbass, piece of fucking-!"

 

...

 

Roman's next attempt involved a bit more preparation. He made a note with his number. Attached it to another flower. A daisy. He had picked it outside the performance center. The fucking thing had the tenacity to grow up through the asphalt. It was tough and pretty, just like her.

 

_God, I'm pitiful._

 

Roman had tied his hair back this time around. _No fucking hiding. I'm just going to march in there, look totally badass and ask her out. I have this in the bag. There is no possible way I could fuck this up._

 

He strode into the center, hoping that he looked more put together than he felt. Because how he felt was two seconds from going to pieces. Roman's hand was on the door, about to turn the knob to enter the weight room.

 

"Roman?"

 

_Ah. Fuck._

 

Reigns turned to her, hoping the expression on his face was at least coolly blank or blankly cool. However, he would settle for pretty much _anything_ except one that mirrored the panic trying to close his throat. "Uh. Hey."

 

"You ran off on me the other day. You didn't even let me thank you for the flowers. They were so pretty!" She lightly bumped her fist against his shoulder, smiling. "How did you know it was my birthday?"

 

_Birthday?!_ Roman prided himself on not being a _total_ fucking creep. He hadn't gone to the other women in the center for the scoop on his interest, hadn't tried to get her number yet (mostly because speaking to her was a very, very tenuous thing for him), didn't know a lot about what she liked or didn't like aside from what she may have mentioned while he was around.

 

Yet he'd somehow stumbled into this fucking _genius_ plot. Score one for Romance Reigns. "I just didn't want to keep you, y'know? I figured uh, what with it being your birthday and all, you probably had cake to get home to." _Smooth as fucking silk_.

 

She sighed though, kind of heavy. Her hand rested on his arm, and he prayed she couldn't feel him shaking with nerves. "I didn't, actually. Nobody even remembered except you. I wanted to say thank you but you ran off so fast..."

 

"Oh yeah um, my phone was ringing." Roman straightened up a little bit. "This is uh, a-also for you. And since you didn't. Um. Really get to celebrate your birthday, would you maybe...uh...sometime, maybe want to go out...for some cake or something?" He hadn't meant for it to come out quite so stilted, but there it was now. Hanging in the air between them.

 

He jumped when he realized he still held the daisy and his note, belatedly handing them to her and mumbling out another apology. "It's just uh, my number. Nothing too crazy." Roman explained, flushing when she smiled at him.

 

“You're so thoughtful, Roman! Yes, I would love to go on a date with you sometime. When is good for you? I know you're a lot busier than I am.” she said quietly, tucking the daisy behind her ear.

 

“I can...wait, uh, what?” Roman was flustered by her easy acceptance of his offer, despite him not having actually used the word 'date'. “What, really? Seriously?”

 

She shrugged, her brow furrowing. “Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't I go on a date with you?”

 

_Because I'm awkward as fuck and trip over my words and have a giant crush on you and you're kind of perfect?_ Roman winced mentally. “I can um. I'll make time for you, obviously. I-if you pick a day. I uh. Sorry, I'm not usually like this.”

 

She giggled, the noise easing some of the tension out of him. “Yeah I know, you're normally a badass. It's kind of cute to see you all worked up.”

 

_Cute?!_ Roman was pretty sure his face was on fire. “You...think I'm cute?” Now more than ever he wished he had left his hair down. He wasn't sure if he could handle this after all.

 

“Well, yeah! You're a pretty cute guy, Roman. You have to know that.” she said matter-of-factly, her hand back on his arm.

 

Roman just grimaced. Too many face freckles, his hair never cooperated unless it was soaked, he was constantly busting up his forehead or mouth or the bridge of his nose in matches--

 

Her finger tapped the tip of his nose, startling him. “Hey. You let me know a day you're free to hang out and I'll be all over it, okay? Let me...” She pulled out her phone and typed in his number while Reigns just stood there, struck dumb by how simple this was turning out to be. His phone pinged after a minute. “There, now you have my number! I've got to go, but I'll text you soon. Thank you again for the flowers!” She hugged him and damn near skipped off, leaving him slack-jawed.

 

_What the fuck just happened_ .

 

…

 

He had plenty of time to overthink the situation when they decided on a day one week later, opting for a walk on the local beach. ' _At least to start the evening off_ ', she'd said. Roman had agreed, and now here he was sitting in the parking lot, clenching and unclenching his hands on the steering wheel of his car.

 

_Why is this so difficult? Jesus fucking Christ, I thought asking her out was the hard part!_

 

“What am I gonna' do?” Roman groaned out loud, dropping his forehead onto the steering wheel and then yelping in surprise when the horn beeped. “Okay, alright, you can do this big man. You've got this.” he breathed, running a hand down his face and then exiting his vehicle. “She already thinks you're cute, so you're halfway there. All you have to do is man the fuck up and make some non-awkward conversation.” he continued, locking the car door and bumping into someone as he turned back around. “Oh! Sorry-”

 

“Do you always talk to yourself?”

 

_WHY._

 

Of course it was her. Of course she heard him giving himself yet another super embarrassing pep talk. Roman could feel his face reddening. “I uh.”

 

“Hey, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't doing the same thing in my car over there.” she said easily, looping her arm through his elbow. “Come on Ro, if we don't hurry all the good shells will be gone!”

 

“Shells?” Roman clung to the chunk of information, briefly feeling like he was drowning as he struggled to absorb the knowledge that she was _also_ nervous. “You like seashells?”

 

“Of course! I like the scallop ones, and sand dollars and conch shells of course.” she rattled off her favorites while they slid through the dunes, down to the water. Unlike him, her nerves seemed to manifest in being _beautifully_ able to talk. Roman was tongue-tied, choosing instead to listen to her and keep an eye out for shells. He could totally do this. Easy. 

 

Roman finally came across a beautiful, peach-colored conch shell as the sun was setting. He almost missed it, catching the barest glimpse while she ran up ahead and stopping to dig it out of the sand. “It's pretty, like you.” he mumbled, shocked when she kissed him on the cheek.

 

“Thank you! You're so sweet to me.” A light blush dusted the bridge of her nose, and Roman swallowed hard, leaning in.

 

“Real kiss?” he finally managed to ask softly, his hands nervously twisting at the hem of his sweatshirt while she smiled up at him.

 

“Okay.” She slid her hands into his one big sweatshirt pocket, tugging him closer. Roman went willingly, surprised again at how simple this was. He found his hands wrapped naturally around her waist, urging her into him. It didn't feel awkward at all. If anything it felt really _good_. Their mouths meshed together perfectly, the beach and everything else falling away until there was nothing but the kiss.

 

When he pulled away for air, she followed him with a dazed expression. Roman felt like it would be inappropriate to laugh with relief, so he stifled it. “You...that was nice.” he said, smiling down at her.

 

She went bright red, smiling shyly back. “ _Really_ nice.” Her hands fiddled with the inside of his hoodie pocket, brushing against his stomach. “Thank you.”

 

…

 

She really seemed to enjoy holding his hand, often tucking her own into his pocket with his when they went out and about. She liked kissing him. She liked hugging him. Roman had a mental checklist of all the things she liked about him. Weirdly it got longer every day, instead of shorter like he'd feared it would.

 

She liked when he brought her flowers, she liked when they spent time together. She liked when he mumbled, she liked when he talked. She liked watching him practice, she liked being around him. It was scary in a strange way. Someone actually liking him as much as he liked them.

 

The nerves came raging back though, the night she invited him over to her apartment for a movie. He had never been to her apartment before, always offering to meet her in town so that she wouldn't feel pressured.

 

Roman stood on the steps of her apartment building for a good five minutes desperately trying to get his hair under control, hindered by his shaking hands.

 

_I'm so screwed_ .  _She likes me, I know she does, but I'm so screwed._ The door buzzed open and he flinched back, startled.  _She's probably been watching me fuck with my hair this whole time, dammit. God, why can't I get a grip on this stuff?_ he grumbled mentally,  _I can throw a guy around in the ring but when it comes to this I'm a mess_ . Climbing the stairs felt like an eternity, and he was so thankful she propped her door open with one of her distinctive, brightly-colored sneakers, otherwise he probably would have had to resort to knocking on random doors.

 

She was... _not_ dressed like he'd expected. Roman swallowed hard. Every other time they'd gone on dates, she wore things that were fun and casual. This...

 

Well,  _never_ let it be said that Roman Reigns was not a fan of seduction. The skirt barely grazed her knees, the color of it doing wonders for her skin tone. And the  _shirt!_ Tailored to show her curves in all the right places. She looked stunning. She looked every inch the woman with intent.

 

He felt under-dressed in his jeans and t-shirt, wishing he'd gone for something more...business-formal. Something to match her classy vibe.

 

“Do you like it? I figured since we weren't going out and I wouldn't be forced to wear heels, I could dress up a little.” she explained when he didn't move from the doorway, looking slightly worried. “If it's too much, I can-”

 

“No!” Roman burst out, realizing too late how fucking _loud_ he was. Shit, he'd used his ring voice and everything. “Sorry I uh, I like it. A lot. It's a great look on you. Please.” he all but begged at half-volume, letting the door swing shut behind him. “Y-you look beautiful. And uh. Pretty.”

 

_Jesus fucking **Christ** , so pitiful_ .

 

She laughed though, easily diffusing his self-loathing. “I'm glad you like it. I already made popcorn, come sit!”

 

All he could focus on during the movie was how  _ nice _ she felt nestled into his side. Roman wasn't dumb, he knew she was at the very least  _ somewhat _ interested in him. But  _ how _ interested was she? How much of him did she want? Had he already gone too far just by admitting how good she looked tonight?  _ Shit shit shit _ .

 

Her mouth on his caught him by surprise, Roman too lost in his own thoughts to notice her inching closer. “Where are you right now?” she asked softly, that worried look back.

 

“I'm wondering what you want.” Roman admitted. “Worried I'm going to go too fast for you. You look really, _really_ beautiful tonight, n-not like you don't look beautiful every time I see you!” The words just kept coming, picking up speed. “I wish I'd dressed nicer, because you look like a present to unwrap and I'm just all regular and I'm not saying I'm _demanding_ to undress you or anything just that you look wonderful and I really want to kiss you and touch you and--”

 

_ Stop stop  **stop** what the fuck am I doing?! _

 

“--hold you and give you more flowers and stuff because I...I really like you a whole lot. You put up with all my overthinking and you make me feel amazing and I might love...you...” Roman finally ground to a halt, stunned and horrified at how much he had just blurted out.

 

_Jesus Christ. Jesus fucking Christ._

 

“I'm sorry.” he managed to say, standing quickly. “I'll just uh...I'll see myself out.” Her fingers dug into his hip, snagging one of his belt loops. Roman knew he was strong enough to pull away. Strong enough that even if she managed to hold on, he'd probably just tear the loop off his jeans. So how he stayed rooted to the spot was a mystery to him.

 

“Why would you want to leave after saying all of that?” she asked, sounding legitimately confused. “Don't you want to hear what I have to say about _you_ , Roman?”

 

_ Oh God, here we go _ . His traitorous body sat back down stiffly on the couch beside her. Her hand twined with his larger one after tracing momentarily up his tattoo, and she leaned into him again. 

 

“You make me more comfortable than anyone else ever has.” she murmured, her free hand stroking through his hair and working out a tangle with ease. That was how it always was around her. Like she smoothed all the anxious energy and left him feeling unwound, serene. “I'm happier than I've ever been before, and it's all thanks to _you_. As far as what I want from you...” she trailed off, shifting to straddle his hips. Roman stared up at her for a minute before she grabbed a handful of his hair and kissed him. 

 

_ Hard _ .

 

“I love you too, Roman.” she panted against his mouth when they parted. “I didn't want to say anything because I didn't know how you felt about me.”

 

“Oh _God_.” Roman groaned, cupping her face. “You keep kissing me like that and you're going to find out _exactly_ how I feel.”

 

_Holy shit, did I just say that?_

 

“Really?” She bit her lip, smiling at him and tick-tock swaying her hips. “Guess I'll have to keep going then.”

 

“I guess so.” Roman wasn't sure where the hell this confidence was coming from, but he hoped it was here to stay. Her hands went to the top button on her shirt. Roman batted them away though, wanting to undress her himself. The shirt fell open easily, and he pushed it down her arms.

 

Her fingers were back in his hair again, tugging his head to the side to distract him with another kiss while she did  _ something _ with her other hand. Roman couldn't be bothered to care, finding her tongue licking curiously into his mouth  _ far _ too interesting. The sound of his zipper coming down probably should have snagged his attention. Her hand questing over his stomach made his breath catch in his throat, and he tore his mouth away from hers to stare down at where she traced the band of his boxers. 

 

She looked up at him, the question obvious before she formed it.

 

“Please.” Roman's voice was low, steady. Sure of himself. She smiled, hiking her skirt over her hips to reveal a _total_ lack of underwear (if _that_ wasn't an ego stroke he didn't know what was) and dove in to kiss him again while he dragged his boxers down just enough to clear his cock. It slid over her pussy once it was freed, already embarrassingly hard. Roman momentarily debated apologizing but then she moaned into his mouth and the notion was gone. 

 

She ground down onto him with a single-minded purpose, his cock slipping easily between her folds to arch stiffly against her wet cunt. He hadn't even penetrated her yet and she was balling her fists into his shirt and making  _ noises _ , filthy noises that he had dreamed about her making before. Quite a few times he had woken up aching in the middle of the night, her imaginary pleasure clinging to his sleep-heavy brain. 

 

But here she was putting his imagination to shame, rocking her pussy back and forth over the underside of his cock, pressing it to his stomach and whimpering out with excited little shudders. Roman gritted his teeth when she cupped his face. “Please.” she echoed him, her thumbs stroking across his facial hair lightly. “Please, please.”

 

“Okay. Okay.” was all he said in reply, one hand on her hip canting her back _just so_ and allowing him to press inside. Her fingers on his face went limp. Roman stilled instantly, unable to keep in a gasp when she shivered all over after a second or two.

 

“You...feel amazing.” she murmured, dragging a hand through his hair and fisting it at the nape of his neck. Roman wasn't sure how he even _had_ enough blood in other places for a flush to rise but there it was, blooming hot across his face and making her giggle breathlessly. “You're so cute when you're embarrassed.”

 

He buried his face in her neck to hide, relishing the way she pulled his hair like she was trying to rile him up. “ _ Easy _ . You're gonna' make me come too quick.” he groaned, laughing when she just tugged harder and arched herself against his chest. “That's how you want to play it, huh?” Roman muttered, easily lifting her off his cock. The disappointed sound from her made him almost regret his decision. 

 

Almost.

 

“Shh, I've got you. Don't worry.” he soothed, pressing her back to the couch and putting both her legs over his left shoulder. “You're safe. I love you. I'm going to get you off, I promise.”

 

“God, _Roman!_ ” she cried out when he slid easily back in, shifting her hips up to take him even further. Roman groaned low in his throat, knowing that he should probably go easy on her. But she just kept begging for _more, harder, more_ and it was a little difficult to keep a gentle pace with her breath in his lungs and her body welcoming him like this. He wrapped his arm around her thighs, keeping them pressed together as he fucked into her the way she was asking for. She kissed him, all tongue and teeth and her fingers were dragging through his hair again and Roman wanted this to go on forever, for weeks and months and years.

 

_ She loves me, she wants me, she loves me, she wants me _ . The words cycled through Roman's head and he was dimly aware of the fact that he was chanting  _ I love you _ under his breath as he kept her firmly pinned to the couch with his hips, but she was saying it back with every panting exhale and it was fucking  _ beautiful _ and  _ perfect _ just like her. Her legs shook in his grip and he snarled, knowing that  _ he _ did that, that  _ he _ was about to make her come. Her mouth opened in a silent cry, her whole body arched up beneath him and she came apart like a melody of glorious satisfaction. Her hand abruptly caught in his hair and jerked his head back and Roman couldn't help the fucking delighted  _ roar _ that came from him, couldn't help how quickly he sped up when she begged for him.

 

“ _Please!_ ”

 

“ _Yes_.” he ground out, his hips snapping against her own until finally, _finally sweet fuck_ , he spilled inside her. “Fuck.” Roman gasped, her hands smoothing softly down his neck, over his back. “Are you okay? Sorry, I got a little uh...” he trailed off, letting go of her legs. The blush made a triumphant return, and he rubbed the back of his neck with one hand while the other did its best to support his weight over her. “Sorry.”

 

“Don't you dare apologize for that.” she huffed out, grinning wildly up at him. “Holy shit. I love you, Roman Reigns.”

 

Roman's face lit up with his own smile, and he laughed, sitting back and pulling her up into a hug. “I should get dressed up more often, huh?” she teased, making him snort and shake his head.

 

“You don't need to, but I'm not complaining.” He bit his lip, gathering up his hair and messily braiding it behind his head to keep it out of his face. “I uh. I love you.”

 

“I know.” she replied smugly.

 

“You're supposed to say, 'I love you too'.”

 

“I already said 'I love you', technically _you're_ the one who's supposed to say 'I love you too'.”

 

Roman grumbled, pouting in annoyance. “I finally get up the guts to say that I love you and you're gonna' argue semantics?” He pretended that he was going to stand and her hand caught his wrist.

 

“Mmm, I don't think so.” she said in a sing-song tone, laying a kiss on each one of his fingers.

 

Roman swallowed hard. “I love you too.” he finally said quietly.

 

“I love you.”

 

He rolled his eyes. “Jesus.” Her laugh was still music to his ears.

 


End file.
